Far-reaching Light
by BloodGulchBlue
Summary: It turns out that the future isn't as far away as we thought... When a Ghost is found, it turns the the world upside down- for someone who can only be called a Guardian. Rated M for language and future violence. Modern day setting, OC character.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:**** Hi! This is a new series, which follows the protagonist (as yet unnamed), through his very unexpected journey. I shall say no more...**

**... Except that I'm an English writer, so any items or objects will be generally referred to by English terms (ie pavement, not sidewalk). Enjoy!**

Far-reaching Light

"You're going to miss the bus!"

My mother's voice rang up to my room as I scrabbled around for my iPod. If I couldn't find it, then the hour-long bus journey to college would be incredibly boring. Reading was out of the question, looking down for that long was bound to give me a massive crick in my neck. And there was the journey down twisting and bumpy country roads. Attempting to read on those surfaces was inviting motion sickness. I sighed, and as I turned to leave, a flash of white in the tangle of wires leading from a socket, unused chargers intertwined, caught my eye. Following the cable with my eyes, I ripped the iPod from the charger, stuffed the flailing headphones into my pocket and dashed downstairs, grabbing my bag, prepared the night before in order to save time in the hectic mornings. I slipped on my shoes and said a quick "bye" to my mum, before dashing out of the front door, laces flapping as I sprinted to the bus stop, cursing my faulty digital alarm clock.

The bus was delayed by ten minutes.

I sat relatively near the front, close enough so that I could get off quickly, but not so far back that I had the engine next to my ear, or ran the risk of being moved off without getting the chance to leave as there was a slow, old person who insisted on getting up and moving aside for you in two minutes sitting next to you. I put on my headphones, selected my 'favourites' playlist, and sat back as the familiar music of 'Too Close' by Alex Clare drifted through. I closed my eyes.

I had obviously fallen asleep, as I was listening well into the 'J's' when I was nudged awake, and the stop for Oakfield moving past my blurry vision. I cursed, loudly, and the old man who had woken me up tutted. I thumbed the 'stop' button and muttered obscenities to nobody in particular as I was moved to the next stop, an extra five minutes up the road. I was definitely going to be late. I walked quickly, not giving a damn about what the other pedestrians thought of me, and trod the well-used pavement towards college. I was walking past the local supermarket when my undone laces tripped me up, sending me headlong into a nearby bush, part of the local council's attempt to brighten up the area. I felt my skin scrape against several spindly but surprisingly solid and sharp twigs. I spat out a mouthful of the vile compost as I gingerly pulled my head out, the twigs coming back for round two, pulling at and against my messy hair, tangling at every opportunity. I extracted my head and sat, staring angrily at the offending shrub, before tying my laces, standing up, and walking on.

From the supermarket, the pavement ran parallel to a road, before dipping behind the back of the supermarket and leading me up a hill, houses on my right, a park on the opposite side of the road. The college was in a side road, taking up a large space, towering above the houses around it. It was an ugly building, a square block of featureless grey concrete with regular windows. I entered the quiet lobby through the front door, scanning my card to get through the barrier. The canteen was tucked away to the left, some classrooms to the right, and that bloody staircase led to the upper levels. Already tired from my running and extra walking up the hill, two flights of stairs served as a massive annoyance to both me and every single student who had to use them. The lifts were out as well. I climbed to the first floor, turned left to my corridor, left again down to my classroom. History was in full swing, and I resigned myself as I opened the door and slipped in, immediately drawing the attention of Mr Phlox and the seventeen students who had decided that my appearance was vastly more interesting than the class on the English Reformation.

"Sorry I'm late" I droned, moving to my seat on the other side of class, drawing looks from the other students. I nodded in greeting to my friends, who were sitting in one corner. They were wearing large grins. As I sat, Josh whispered in my ear.

"You've got stuff in your hair" He grinned, and I released a shower of leaves and compost as I ran a hand over my scalp. Sam yanked a particularly thorny twig out of my hair, and I winced as it took a clump of brown hair from my head.

"Now that we're all here, we can resume." Mr Phlox started, drawing several snickers from those assembled, some casting quick glances at me. "You have had five minutes to look over your notes, and the test will begin momentarily. I was rummaging through pens and random pieces of crumpled paper out of my bag, and looked up from pulling out my folder.

"Test?" I mouthed to Josh, who was staring intently at his work.

"He told us last week, don't you remember?"

I sighed again. Last week, Destiny, the game I had been waiting for, had been released. I had other things on my mind to do rather than revise. Namely, watch videos and trailers, building up my anticipation. Despite being slightly disappointed with the story, I was hooked, and had built up my Warlock to level twelve rapidly, and was zooming around the Moon, attempting to do bounties. Late nights gaming led to sleeping in- and missing alarms. I was in for a long day.

Knowing I had done badly in the test didn't help my overall mood for the next two hours of lessons until lunch. I decided to avoid the ribbing from my mates, and took myself for a walk to the supermarket to get some lunch, rather than the stuff the canteen offered. My eyes were fixed on the ground, and so I noticed the Ghost lying on the compost under the bush I'd fallen in. The road was quiet, so I took another look. Definitely a Ghost, but white, which was weird. The Limited edition came with a reddish-skinned one. I picked it up, hefting it. It felt heavy, like an expensive replica. Then the eye lit up, and it floated above my palm.

"Guardian?" It asked.


	2. Chapter 2

2

I pulled my hand back. The Ghost stayed floating. My mind raced.

"What?!" I asked, shocked. I heard a car move round the corner behind me. I grabbed the Ghost and stuffed it in my bag, muffled protestations drowned out by the passing vehicle. My heart was thumping and I walked back to college, thoughts of food forgotten. The Ghost was mercifully silent, and I ducked into the toilets. Locking myself in a cubicle, I opened my bag. The Ghost wasn't there. I panicked. Having activated it, what would it do next? Then I got the shock of my life when it materialised next to me, just like in the game. But this was real. And really scary. And cool.

"Where am I?" Ghost asked. I decided to call him (it?) Ghost. Call me unoriginal, but I wasn't sure how long I was going to be with (him?) it and didn't want to form an attachment to... him? I decided to ask the question that was at the forefront of my mind.

"What the fuck?" Ghost didn't react.

"How did you get here?" That perked him up, and he began to speak, the voice reverberating around the stall.

"My databanks have been wiped by the time distortion, but I surmise that my previous Guardian was fighting a Vex incursion, and sent me through the time gate"

That didn't sound right, so I asked for clarification.

"It would appear that the Vex have been experimenting with large-scale time gates to transport higher than normal forces across time, rather than the smaller numbers that are normally transported."

"How did you get through?" My interest was piqued.

"Our lack of understanding regarding Vex technology is a problem. But as I managed to get through, I surmise shielded transports could also travel."

"To this time?"

"It's where I ended up"

"What about paradoxes?"

"We are yet to experience one, so the theories could be wrong"

I felt ill. "So the Vex are attempting to come to this time to prevent Humanity from reaching the Golden age... Before we can be a threat?"

"I would assume so"

"How can we stop this?"

"We can only fight. I will have to train you, Guardian."

"Sounds like fun" I muttered.


	3. Chapter 3

The lack of food didn't help my attitude for my last lesson, and my wandering mind gave me grief and extra work. As I trudged back to the bus stop, I was thinking about my future. Something was coming, and I was supposed to fight it? I hadn't been taught self-defence, and it was illegal to carry a gun without a licence. Welcome to Britain. Besides, what if anyone found out about Ghost? There'd be Secret Services all over him, and most likely me as well for finding him. I checked my bag. He was hovering sullenly between my folder and textbooks. He looked up as the zip opened.

"Why won't you let me out?" He asked. "I can be near you, but only you can hear me."

I hissed at him to be quiet. I was drawing looks from nearby pedestrians. Mercifully, he didn't press his point. The bus pulled up, I swiped my Key, and sat near the back for privacy. An idea struck me. I pulled out my iPod, put the headphones in, and stuffed it in my hoodie's pocket. I opened my bag again and whispered into it.

"Okay, do that thing." Ghost bobbed happily and vanished with a faith 'whoosh' and a flash of light, and his voice filtered through the headphones.

"Okay, I can speak through the device."

"Good." I whispered. "Tell me more on how you're going to train me. With what?"

The bus moved off. It was nice and quiet, so there was nobody sitting close enough to hear our exchange.

"My Guardian equipped me with a variety of weapons and gear before our mission, I assume for multiple scenarios. I have stored them and you can access them at any time, so long as you are linked with me. In regards to my exploration of your internet, I have..."

"Wait, what?" I asked. "You were supposed to be in my bag!"

"I could remotely access the network."

"There's a password!"

If Ghost had been present, I bet he would have looked at me like I was stupid. (Or as much as a floating Rubik's cube can).

"I can store weapons, armour and personal vehicles, hack tech from your future and fly without visible thrusters or stabilisers. It's not too difficult to login to a fairly standard network."

"Personal vehicles?" I asked, all surprise forgotten.

"I have a Sparrow which needs to be linked to the transport network. You do not have one, so I will construct a personal call-in device from what I find when scouting. That way you can have one within seconds, whatever your position. So long as I am with you, that is."

I found myself nodding. "And the training?"

"Leave that to me. I can implement a compensator in the gauntlets you will wear, which will help you aim until you have built up enough stability and strength to use them as naturally as a skilled marksman. There will be a slight difference during the transition, but it will only affect your aim by point zero one percent."

"And the gear? I mean, armour is pretty hard to camouflage in day-to-day environments."

"My previous Guardian was a Warlock, and I can fabricate armour to their standards with minimal difficulty. I have found that 'trench coats' are a highly effective match for the robes Warlocks usually wear."

Excitement bubbled through me.

"As for grenades and supers? They aren't standard munitions, they use energies which don't exist yet."

"I am powered by Light, which is a pure form of energy. I can transfer enough to you as a regenerating store for a standard recharge rate of super and grenades for a Warlock."

"Thanks." I said, impressed. "And helmets?"

"For your HUD, I will create lenses for normal days. Whenever you wear a helmet, they will transfer. It's quite simple."

"What about bullets, rockets and batteries?"

"I have large amounts of ammunition packs, and can scavenge materials if need be. Does that answer all of your questions?

"When do we start?" I smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

Several hours later, after getting home and after waiting for my mum to go out shopping, I examined the armour that Ghost had fabricated for me. They looked like a pair of dark blue jeans, a grey t-shirt with the tricorn logo over the heart, sturdy shoes, a zipped jumper and a dark grey trench coat. Ghost hovered over the clothes on the bed, watching my reaction. I broke into a grin.

"Perfect. The gauntlets?" I asked.

Ghost's light pulsed, and they dropped in a neat pile. I frowned. They'd fit under the sleeves of the coat with no trouble, but they weren't exactly my style. Covering the fingers down to the wrist, the second section acting as vambraces, they'd stick out. I mentioned this to Ghost, who seemed unperturbed.

"Watch this." He said, a little smug. As I stared at the gauntlets, the section covering the hands folded into each other, retracting back into the vambraces.

"So long as you keep them under the jumper, and wear it, they'll remain unseen. All items are made to the 20:80 cloth/armour ratio, and..."

His light pulsed again, and a belt fell onto my bed.

"... so long as you wear that, it'll generate a personal shield. Invisible, It'll only activate under ballistic fire, but don't think you'll be able to go and shrug off heavy weapons fire."

I nodded. "You work fast. What about weapons?"

"What are you thinking of?"

"Special weapons are too large, as are heavy weapons. So, I think a hand cannon- I can hide it under my coat or in my bag, and keep it close. Other than that, I have no idea. What else do you have?"

"I have several hand cannons stored. One weapon I would like to draw your attention to is an auto rifle- named 'Hard Light'. It's relatively compact, you could fit it in your bag. I can make a holster to fit the hand cannon that would rest in the small of your back, but will not make a bulge."

"Take a look at my bag- make it bigger so I can fit ammunition and Hard Light."

"The trench coat has several hidden pockets which carry several clips each for a variety of weapons."

"Good"

I picked up the gauntlets.

"Time for some training."

All the clothes felt amazingly light and cool, thanks to future technology. I experimentally flicked my fingers outwards, digits splayed, and watched as the armour extended over my hands. Receptors transmitted the feel of the objects around me to the pads of my fingers. I picked up Hard Light with reverence, the boxy design firm in my hands. I listened closely. The soft hum of tiny motors adjusted my grip and hold on the weapon, and kept it stable. The lenses in my eyes activated with a blink, and a reticule, shield bar, radar and windows for grenades/melee ability/ super popped up.

"Ghost, how can I shoot a weapon without alerting anyone? Or for that matter, throw a grenade?"

"Wait for actual combat situations, the gauntlets will do their job."

"Is combat going to be coming anytime soon?"

"My memory banks were wiped. I can't guess. I'm sorry I can't be of any more help."

"You've been a massive help, Ghost. How about we get down to that Light transfer?"

"Marcus!" My mum's voice rang upstairs. "I'm back!"


	5. Chapter 5

5

I was standing in my room, wearing new clothes and holding an assault rifle, with a

Ghost that was modifying my bag, various weapons, ammunition packs scattered all over the room. I heard her put down the shopping, and winced as another pair of feet stamped up the stairs. My sister was home early from her job in London, and my mum had picked her up. She had an annoying habit of barging into my room when I was busy watching a film, texting a mate or trying to get my homework done. She moved past her room, towards mine, and Ghost hummed softly. There was a flash of blue-white light, and I was left standing in my underwear as Ghost recalled the weapons and gear. Gabriella threw my door open, giving me no time to grab at anything to preserve my modesty.

"What" She asked. "Are you doing?"

I grabbed my jeans and shirt from the floor and pulled them on.

"None of your business!" I snapped, scanning the room for Ghost and anything he might have missed.

"Fine." Gabriella sighed, walking away, but leaving the door open.

"That was close." Ghost said softly, reappearing.

"Understatement of the bloody century, mate."

Dad came home in time for dinner, and the four of us sat around the table, talking and

eating. I decided to explain my new gear.

"I've ordered some clothes online, they'll come tomorrow."

Gabs sighed. "You buy more than I do!"

I shot daggers at her as mum spoke. "She's right. Are you sure that they'll arrive in time before you lock up?"

"Yeah, they will." I reassured her.

I dodged washing-up duty by faking that I had homework to do- I needed some more info from Ghost.

"Was your previous Guardian alone, or a member of a team?"

"As I have said before..."

"Yes, you can't remember, but can you detect any other Ghosts that might have gone through with you, but got separated?"

"If so, they are too far away for me to detect." He paused. "But don't discount the possibility. If I had access to a..."

I interrupted him. "I am not breaking into any secure facilities, thank you Ghost."

"Do you wish to me to transfer Light to you?"

I nodded. Ghost's parts moved away from his body, and a crackling blue sphere surrounded him. As I watched, a beam of light shot from his eye and hit me squarely in the chest. Fire washed through my limbs and I blacked out.

When I awoke, Ghost was hovering over me expectantly. "It worked." He said. I blinked, testing my lenses, and noting the slowly charging bars and boxes. I sighed, remembering an essay that was due in tomorrow, turning to Ghost.

"Can you help me with my essay? I was going to do it at College, but then I found you..."

"I already did it."

"What?"

"I scanned your phone and found that you'd made a note to do an essay, your laptop had a plan written out for one, so I checked your previous work and wrote an essay to your standards."

"Jeez, Ghost, you could have told me!"

"I thought you'd be happy that I've helped you." He said reproachfully.

"I am, I'm just shocked. Thank you."

"I wrote it so you'll get an A."

"Good work!" I grinned at him. "I like working with you!"


	6. Chapter 6

I fidgeted in my chair, waiting for my essay. Mr Phlox was taking his time handing them out. I knew mine was at the bottom of the pile, the white sheets of plain paper standing out from the greyer, lined sheets. Josh grimaced at his score, hiding his essay in his folder and turning to Sam.

"Slightly better than last time. You?"

Sam took his from Mr Phlox. He shrugged.

"Twenty out of thirty."

Both turned to look at me. I looked at my teacher. He stood in front of me. He didn't look happy. Wordlessly, I was given my essay. I looked at the red, angular writing

_Direct copying from multiple sources is plagiarism. Fail, 0/30. Rewrite it for tomorrow_.

I cursed Ghost under my breath.

"Perhaps if you spent less time clothes shopping and more time on your essay, you wouldn't have to copy and paste, Mr Avis!"

My face burned as I was humiliated in front of the class. I gritted my teeth, but said nothing. I endured the ribbing for the next half-hour, until the lesson ended and I picked up my bag. I wanted to pull out Hard Light and shoot Mr Phlox, but I decided against it. The Devil you Know, my Hand cannon, hung in its holster. It was so tempting when you where heavily armed. If what Ghost had said was true, nobody would miss an annoying teacher when the Vex invaded. The thoughts of anger fled my mind when Anna, a girl in my class, spoke as I passed her on my way to the door.

"I like what you're wearing." She said. I turned on one foot, swivelling to see if she was being sarcastic or not. I was momentarily distracted by her shoulder-length auburn hair, then her green eyes. A classic Irish girl, who'd moved over to England with her family when her mother got a job offer of a lifetime. She also had a nice body, but I was too confused about her comment to take notice.

"Sorry?" I asked. I'd been asked to show her around by a receptionist when she'd first arrived midway through the year, so I knew her pretty well. Her personality had made it easy for her to fit in with the girls in her classes, and, along with her accent, had attracted a lot of boys. Although they clearly couldn't take the hint from the single piercing in her right ear.

"I like the trench coat. It suits you."

"Um, thanks."

"Don't worry too much about the essay. I swear he exchanges dates with the other teachers so that we all get given homework at the same time."

I laughed. "That's probably true."

"Okay, see you around." She went off to catch up with her friends. I waited for Josh and Sam to stop mucking about and walked with them down to the canteen. I eat with them, then left, citing that I needed to work on the essay. I found a quiet part of college, and put in my headphones.

"What did you do?" I hissed.

"That was an A-grade answer to the question." Ghost sounded confused.

"That you copied off the internet! Teachers do check that sort of stuff you know!"

"Ah. Sorry."

"Any news?"

"I've piggybacked a satellite and am using it to track abnormal activity, and there are some interesting readings."

"So you can hack a satellite but you can't edit a word document? Great."

"There have been classified reports of what are described as low-hanging storm clouds, which vanish after a few seconds, in random parts of the county."

"Vex." I didn't need to ask it as a question. "They're attempting to come to our time."

"As far as I can tell, yes. I have also detected a number of anomalies, which could indicate the presence of other Ghosts. I have sent a message on a specific frequency that only they should be able to pick up, telling them of my findings and that we should meet."

"Good and bad news then."

"Yes. But I guess that..."

The sky darkened. What appeared to be clouds, stretching from the ground up several meters, appeared. Lighting crackled inside them, and familiar figures dropped down. I flicked my fingers out as panic threatened to freeze me, and I felt the gauntlets extend over my fingers. Ghost materialised next to me, jolting me into action.

"The time for stealth is over. It's the Vex!"


	7. Chapter 7

Mouth dry, I slipped a hand under my coat and tore The Devil you Know from its' holster. The assembled Vex- four Goblins, one Hobgoblin, began to move towards me. I was glad the gauntlets were stabilising my shaking hands, and thankful for the reticule on my lenses. I began to open fire, the powerful shots striking the first Goblin in the shoulder, upper chest, and finally the weak spot in the chest. Spurred on, I slammed a single round into the second Goblins' chest, blowing it apart. Then the third's. And then the Slap rifle that the Hobgoblin was carrying shot a pulse into the centre of my chest which sent me flying back. I skidded down the hall and hit a wall. Ghost appeared next to me.  
>"Get up, move! Follow the checkpoints, shoot anything that moves."<br>He got rid of my hand cannon, and Hard Light dropped into my lap. A helmet followed a second later. It had a smooth face, the viewing panels arranged in an artistic pattern. I slipped it on.  
>"That should work, move!"<br>I obeyed Ghost, picked up my rifle and ran, checking every corner for enemies. People were panicking, some were running, others screaming into phones, only a few noting the armed and armoured figure charging towards the Vex.  
>I opened fire again. The rapid fire chewed up the Vex, A spray of blue-white projectiles shredding the bronze metal and creating pockets of fiery shields as Hobgoblins protected themselves. I waved my arm at a group of cowering students, indicating a clear area near a door.<br>"Go!"  
>They followed my instruction and sped out of the corridor and through the fire exit. I finished off the Hobgoblins. There was a quiet moment.<br>"What now, Ghost?"  
>"We get as many people out as possible. I've detected a group in the lobby."<br>I ran there, taking down two Goblins as I did so. When I looked out of the glass front, I did a double take.  
>"Ghost, what the fuck!?" I exclaimed.<br>"I didn't pick that up."  
>A Fallen Walker sat on top of the roundabout. Its turret swivelled round to face me. The secondary turret charged its four bolts, spitting them at me. I charged behind a pillar, the shots taking chunks from the stone, exposing the metal rods.<br>"Any ideas?"  
>"Well, I can get you a launcher..."<br>"Do it!"  
>A heavy launcher, white and decorated with golden designs.<br>"Gjallahorn."  
>"Indeed." Ghost replied.<br>I went onto one knee and fired. Once again, the stabilisers corrected my bad aim and I scored a beautiful hit on its red dome. Then my world went red.  
>The ringing in my ears disorientated me, and then I noticed the rifle pointed in my face. A Captain held a four-barrelled gun in my face. It spat a stream of unfamiliar words at me.<br>I couldn't speak or move. I was dead.


	8. Chapter 8

A low whistling hum was followed by the Captain being knocked back a step, before another blew him up in a fiery explosion. I rolled away and shakily got back on to my feet. Whoever was using Icebreaker was a pro, and dropped the nearby Fallen. My senses returned to me. Ghost reappeared. Gjallahorn returned to me. I fired again at the Walker, trusting the sniper to watch my back. The Walker reared up, and collapsed, exposing its core. Three golden streaks slammed into it before I could fire again, and I looked to where the shots originated- and noted a shimmering form duck away. The sniper fired and the Walker exploded. With all the enemies down, the only noises to be heard were the distant screams, crackling flames and my own steady breathing. A lithe Titan dropped down next to me, clad in utilitarian armour. The hunter decloaked. We stares at each other, then removed our helmets.

An elfin face with short brown hair stared back at me, and the female Titan's blue eyes stared into mine. I turned. A similar looking face, whose shaved head only bore a neat beard. The Hunter had the same eyes as the Titan. Brother and sister, I assumed.

"Did you never play Destiny?" The Titan asked. "Get to a safe spot away from the Walker as well as the enemies!"

"Sorry." I muttered. "I didn't expect it to be so..."

"Realistic? Well, get with the game, Guardian, because this is real life now!" The Hunter gestured around him.

"Look, Ghost butted in. He appeared, along with the two other white ghosts. He hovered slightly above them. "We need to find a place to hide. The forest is our best bet."

"And how do you propose that we get there?" Titan retorted. Hunter nodded. Ghost sighed.

"With these."

Three sparrows dropped and hovered in front of us.

"I've set a waypoint, get moving!" Ghost told us.

Hunter nodded, mounted and gestured for us to do the same. We followed suit, and I ran from the area with two complete strangers.


End file.
